Within the serene halls of the Biblioteca Vallicelliana in Rome, once nurtured by the spiritual energy of St. Philip Neri, scholars and theologians from around the world gathered for an extraordinary purpose. The University of Notre Dame Australia convened an international conference to explore how the wisdom of St. John Henry Newman speaks to the modern rise of artificial intelligence. The event came as the Church prepared to proclaim Newman a Doctor of the Church, a title honoring the enduring relevance of his intellectual legacy.
The setting reflected a poetic contrast: a library built in the 16th century—home to ancient texts—now hosting conversations about machines that write, reason, and imitate human thought. It was an intersection between faith and circuitry, between the contemplative silence of theology and the restless hum of innovation.
Newman’s teachings, deeply rooted in conscience and intellectual formation, found new life in the debate over AI’s moral and educational consequences. As algorithms become tutors, companions, and creators, his timeless question echoes stronger than ever: What does it mean to think for oneself in an age when machines think for us?
The Formation of Thought in an Automated World
In an era consumed by automation, Newman’s concern for genuine intellectual formation feels strikingly prophetic. He devoted his life to shaping minds capable of discerning truth amidst confusion. His writings insist that education must form conscience, not merely transmit information.
The current acceleration of artificial intelligence revives these concerns. As tools like generative AI become common in classrooms, homes, and workplaces, the capacity for deep, reflective thought risks erosion. Many fear that young people might outsource their reasoning to digital assistants without cultivating moral or critical judgment.
Newman’s call to train the intellect and the conscience resonates as an antidote to this modern dependency. He believed that the human mind must learn how to think, not just what to think. AI, while capable of reproducing knowledge, cannot nurture the moral sensitivity that distinguishes wisdom from mere data.
Dialogue Between Generations
Sister Catherine Joseph Droste, Professor of Theology at the Angelicum, underscored the importance of intergenerational conversation about the use of artificial intelligence. She suggested that while the younger generation navigates technology with ease, it may lack the maturity to discern its ethical limits.
She noted that older generations must not retreat from technology but rather immerse themselves in it enough to understand it and guide the young. She envisioned a dialogue where experience meets experimentation, where wisdom shapes innovation instead of resisting it.
This call for mutual engagement echoes Newman’s philosophy of education, which viewed learning as a relationship between teacher and student, mentor and seeker. The conference, in this sense, was not only about AI—it was about the transmission of discernment in a digital age.
The Challenge of Education in the AI Era
The integration of AI into academic environments has provoked deep debate among educators. Andrew Meszaros, who holds the St. John Henry Newman Chair in Theology at the Angelicum, argued that AI challenges the very essence of education.
He explained that when assessment focuses solely on products—essays, videos, or digital projects—AI can be a helpful collaborator. Yet when education aims to evaluate the student’s reasoning, creativity, and comprehension, artificial intelligence becomes a potential obstacle. Machines can produce flawless essays, but they cannot reveal the student’s intellectual growth or the process behind their understanding.
His remarks captured a broader tension within education: should learning prioritize the outcome or the journey? For Newman, the answer was clear. Education is not about producing polished results but developing the capacity to think, reason, and judge. AI, therefore, demands that teachers redefine what it means to truly assess knowledge.
The Digital Mirror of Society
Artificial intelligence now drives the rhythm of modern communication. It determines the posts we see, the news we read, and the interactions that shape our social worlds. Its unseen presence molds habits, desires, and opinions.
This invisible influence is most potent among the young. Recognizing this, Keith Pitt, Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See, discussed his nation’s new law banning social media access for users under sixteen. He stated that evidence increasingly shows the harmful psychological impact of constant digital exposure on children. The law, set to take effect in late 2025, obliges platforms to verify user age, effectively shielding minors from manipulative digital ecosystems.
This move reflects a growing global awareness of technology’s power to shape not only minds but moral perception. In Newman’s vision, the conscience must be safeguarded from distortion. Today, that distortion may come less from false teachers and more from unregulated algorithms.
Conscience and the Code
Artificial intelligence reveals, with unsettling clarity, how data can reflect the moral state of humanity. Algorithms learn from human behavior, inheriting both virtue and bias. This mirror effect amplifies the urgency of moral formation.
Newman’s writings on conscience speak profoundly to this issue. He described conscience as the inner voice of truth, guiding one’s actions even amid external pressures. In a world now influenced by machine reasoning, the question arises: who forms the conscience of AI, and how do humans remain its moral compass?
If AI systems are to serve humanity ethically, they must be grounded in principles drawn from human dignity. Newman’s thought reminds us that true wisdom cannot emerge from mere calculation. It requires interior reflection and the courage to choose what is right over what is efficient.
The Theological Dimension of Technology
The conference in Rome did more than debate educational or ethical concerns—it explored the spiritual dimension of technology. Theologians reflected on how artificial intelligence alters humanity’s understanding of creation, free will, and divine image.
In Christian tradition, humanity is seen as created in God’s image, endowed with intellect and creativity. AI, however, imitates these faculties without possessing consciousness or moral responsibility. This imitation raises questions about what separates human intelligence from synthetic cognition.
Several scholars proposed that while machines may replicate human processes, they lack intentionality and soul. They can generate responses but cannot experience meaning. Newman’s reflections on the unity of mind and heart offer a counterbalance to the mechanical approach of AI, reminding us that knowledge without moral orientation is hollow.
Technology as Tool, Not Master
Meszaros later reflected on how Newman might have viewed artificial intelligence if he were alive today. He believed that Newman, a curious and analytical thinker, would have studied AI’s mechanisms, perhaps even used them creatively. Yet Newman would have warned against allowing technology to dominate relationships and inner life.
This insight reveals a crucial principle: technology must serve humanity, not enslave it. AI can simplify tasks, generate insights, and even inspire creativity, but it must never replace human connection. For Newman, education and morality were always relational—built upon empathy, understanding, and shared experience. AI, without careful boundaries, risks eroding these foundations.
The theologians at the conference agreed that responsible innovation demands humility. Machines may calculate outcomes, but only humans can weigh them against the eternal measure of good and evil.
Rediscovering Newman in the Age of Algorithms
The decision to name St. John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church feels timely. His teachings on reason, faith, and moral formation speak with renewed urgency as humanity confronts the promises and perils of intelligent machines.
Newman’s insistence that truth must be pursued through personal reflection rather than blind conformity challenges both social media trends and algorithmic thinking. In an age of instant information, his words remind us that truth requires patience, humility, and the courage to think independently.
He would likely view artificial intelligence as an instrument capable of good if guided by virtue—but as a danger if it dulls the human conscience. His thought invites a renaissance of interior life amid the noise of digital progress.
The Human Mind as Sacred Territory
Newman believed that the formation of the mind was a sacred duty. He regarded every act of learning as a participation in divine wisdom. The intellect, to him, was not a machine for processing data but a vessel for discovering moral and spiritual truth.
Artificial intelligence, while capable of processing endless information, lacks the divine spark that gives meaning to knowledge. It can imitate speech, art, and logic, but it cannot experience truth. Newman’s insight underscores why education must continue to cultivate human reflection even in a world dominated by digital intelligence.
The mind, he would argue, is the final frontier that no algorithm can replicate. It is not merely a processor but a seeker of transcendence.
Society at the Crossroads
The broader implications of artificial intelligence reach far beyond classrooms and screens. AI now influences justice systems, healthcare decisions, and even environmental policies. Each innovation carries both promise and peril.
The challenge for modern society mirrors Newman’s lifelong struggle: balancing progress with principle. As nations race to adopt intelligent systems, ethical reflection must evolve just as quickly. If left unchecked, AI could shape societies in ways that prioritize speed over justice and convenience over compassion.
Religious, philosophical, and civic leaders therefore face a shared mission—to ensure technology evolves under the guidance of moral wisdom, not economic impulse. Newman’s writings serve as a reminder that intellectual advancement divorced from conscience leads not to enlightenment but confusion.
Toward a New Humanism
The conference concluded not with answers but with an invitation. Participants agreed that the future of AI requires a new humanism, one that integrates faith, ethics, and technology. The dialogue initiated at the Biblioteca Vallicelliana is only the beginning of a broader movement seeking to reclaim the moral depth of innovation.
AI, they affirmed, should magnify human creativity and compassion, not diminish them. Education systems must evolve to teach discernment alongside digital literacy. Religious traditions, too, must engage with technological realities rather than retreat from them.
This synthesis of theology and technology echoes Newman’s lifelong vision: faith and reason are not enemies but companions. The digital age, when guided by that principle, can become not a threat to humanity but a new expression of it.
The Enduring Relevance of Newman’s Vision
As the Church honors St. John Henry Newman with the title of Doctor of the Church, his ideas find fresh resonance. His call for intellectual rigor and moral clarity remains vital as AI reshapes human experience.
The challenge now lies in ensuring that innovation remains guided by conscience. Technology should expand knowledge without extinguishing wisdom. Newman’s voice, though centuries old, speaks urgently to this balance, urging every generation to remember that thinking machines are powerful—but only thinking hearts can lead them rightly.
His legacy endures not in the archives of theology but in the moral imagination of those who dare to question progress without purpose.
